Did the 'Super Moon' topple Greece and France?

"THE CLASSIC Maya made no known predictions as to what would happen, but it does mark a change of ages in their way of counting time and they surely thought time would go on and another cycle would begin at that point. The Mayan calendar ... is actually not an ordinary civil calendar such as the one we use."

Thus speaks astrologist Bruce Scofield when it comes to the real implications of December 2012 when many think the Mayans predicted the end of the world.

WELL, KIDS, I already told you that the place to be if you want answers to such moon-planets-stars predictions would be the world's biggest astrology conference in New Orleans, happening May 23 to 30. Details are at http://www.uacastrology.com.

World astrologists took plenty of notice recently when the "Super Moon" was close to Earth. Europeans gave it credit for the fact that the very next day the governments of France and Greece imploded! Uranus and Pluto are seeing to it that there is very little stability anywhere.

I WAS ASKING the other day about a particular astrology favorite of mine -- Michael Lutin. I see he is going to New Orleans, leading a discussion called "Irregulus" -- OMG, The Mayans Were Right!"

Well, they were right in that the world as they knew it did come to an end. The Spanish invaded the Mayan culture and destroyed it.

Mr. Lutin tells his fellow believers in the stars: "If you thought Election Day 2000 was wild, wait till Nov. 6, 2012." How does that gibe with the former secretary of labor, Robert Reich, saying that Obama-Clinton will win hands down? Mr. Reich also says, "Astrology has a fairly good record of being correct."

But I didn't quite understand his remark because I didn't know a Clinton would be running, not officially anyway.

One stargazer Giselle Terry is saying: "We are embarking on a new age of heightened social awareness. There is a potential for social consciousness that is less divisive than has ever been before." Hmmm, well, that's great but considering the attacks on Planned Parenthood, gays, immigrants, women and unions, as well as on disenfranchised-from-voting elders and minorities, it sounds like wishful thinking to me.

Market analyst-financial astrologist Ray Merriman's prediction appears more realistic. Merriman, who is translated into eight languages, says we are in a period very much like colonial times, when debt containment could lead to another U.S. credit rating downgrade, paralysis regarding tax compromises and the same issues arising in Europe. Uh-oh!

BUT ALL in all, the largest get-together of believers in the stars will still happen in the Big Easy when Venus will be on display as the brightest of the planets. And prexy Dennis Flaherty says, "I cannot personally think of a more fitting name than 'Venus Rising' for this illustrious 2012 UAC get-together."

THERE WAS an SRO crowd at Cipriani 42 Street the night President Obama was in New York, but this crowd was gathered for "The Gloria Awards: A Salute to Women of Vision" and Gloria Steinem deservedly got most of the kudos. They gave her two standing ovations and both Gloria and her co-founder, Marlo Thomas, noted the huge Corinthian columns and the grandeur of the room -- which used to be a bank! Gloria said the standing of women had improved with a deserted bank offering more posh accommodations for females and Marlo said we'd take the banks down one by one! The honorees were -- young to old -- all outstanding in what they have accomplished for the Ms. Foundation and their own enterprises, be it Planned Parenthood or Jobs with Justice.

My table had been provided by philanthropist-documentary maker Perri Peltz and was meant as a salute to all the honorees. But we at the table were particularly devoted to our Wow woman -- the great and beautiful Sheila Nevins of HBO. The excerpts from 1,000 documentaries she has made were staggering in their complexity, from Elaine Stritch to movie stars-into-nuns to French movie director Roman Polanski to tiny child prostitutes and several wounded veterans. Sheila hadn't missed anything trenchant.

Ms. magazine celebrates being 40 years old this year and next year the Foundation itself becomes 40. The donors to the Women's Funding Network have raised more than $200 million to help women worldwide.

As Gloria stood with some of us to be photographed, I could only marvel at her stamina and courage. And, to think, when I met her some 45 years ago, I thought she was just another pretty face! I had a lot to learn and all women who so earnestly need her help have a lot to be thankful for.

ENDQUOTE: "It takes years for me to trust; I know that about myself. A lot of it is because I am so private, and so reluctant to make myself vulnerable. ... Nobody would consciously decide to be guarded and self-protective. I was very open when I was young, but celebrity teaches you. You learn to cope with intense scrutiny." That's "Dark Shadows" star Michelle Pfeiffer, talking with Parade magazine.

Pfeiffer is celebrating the 19th anniversary of her marriage to producer David E. Kelly, and beginning to suffer empty-nest syndrome as her children go off to college. The eternally beautiful actress says, "People make a lot of jokes about it. But it's no laughing matter. I feel like I'm going to cry just talking about it!"